Enforcing the Competition Law in Namibia A Toolkit - cuts ccier

7. CROSS-BORDER ISSUESWith the opening up of domestic markets to foreign competition, countrieshave become increasingly susceptible to anticompetitive practices that originateoutside their own territory. 62 The types of cross-border anticompetitivepractices are quite similar to that of those perpetrated within national borders.The only difference lies in the cross-border (international) dimensions of theanticompetitive behaviour. A number of areas where these behaviours areperceived to give rise to competition concerns with international dimensionsare discussed here. Though there is no single way by which one can estimatethe damage that these cross-border anticompetitive practices are causing.However, one can have a fair understanding of the nature and dimensions ofthe problems through the analysis of anecdotal evidence. These issues canbroadly be classified into four groups: 63• market power in global or export markets;• barriers to import competition;• foreign investment related; and• IPRs related.7.1 Market Power in Global or Export MarketsInternational cartels, export cartels and related arrangements can be includedunder this category, together with multi-jurisdictional M&As, abuse ofdominance in overseas markets, cross-border predatory pricing and pricediscrimination.Several international cartels, most of which were constituted by producersfrom industrialised countries, were uncovered in the 1990s. These cartels werefound to have severely affected the international trade flows during this period,significantly raised the prices of goods traded, including imports into lowincomecountries. DevelopingCartelisation, however, isnot only about loss inconsumer welfare; it alsohampers the development ofpoor countries, and growthof their firms, in severalways.76 Enforcing the Competition Law in Namibia: A Toolkitcountries’ imports of cartelised goodsin 1997, for example, amounted toUS$81.1bn, which represents 6.7percent of these countries’ imports and1.2 percent of their national incomes.Cartelisation, however, is not onlyabout loss in consumer welfare; italso hampers the development ofpoor countries, and growth of their firms, in several ways. Various techniques,ranging from the threat of retaliatory price wars, use of common sales ordistribution agency, to patent pooling, were used by international cartels toblock developing-country competitors’ entry into the relevant markets.